Experts Warn Against Mixing ADHD and Autism Diagnoses Due to Social Media Influence

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Social media is re-shaping the lines between autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as an increasing number of people identify as having both conditions in online forums.

Researchers from The University of Melbourne analysed 470,000 Reddit posts over a ten-year period from the forum’s ADHD and autism communities.

It found users spoke of having both ADHD and autism, and in some cases were self-diagnosing rather than seeking clinical assessment.

Benefits and risks of social media

Jemima Kang, a graduate researcher at The University of Melbourne, studied the Reddit posts and found emerging patterns.

Kang found users frequently mentioned ADHD in the autism communities, and vice versa, and discovered memberships of the two communities were overlapping more often.

“In general, this rising public interest in ADHD and autism and the interconnectedness is helping a lot of people better understand themselves and find community and articulate what they’ve been going through,” she told SBS News.

But she said the overlap can also cause harm, as the “growing interconnectedness” can blur important distinctions between the two conditions.

“It can foster unwanted dual diagnoses and place strain on clinical services,” she said.

Experts and advocates warn that while the two mental health conditions could co-occur, they need to be treated separately.

Expensive to diagnose the distinct conditions

According to Australia’s government-funded service Healthdirect, autism spectrum disorder, or autism, is a developmental condition that affects a person’s interaction with the world.

ADHD — also a developmental condition — can include symptoms of being easily distracted, impulsive and overactive.

Erin, who has both conditions, said she had to go through a long process to confirm her diagnoses.

“In my early 30s, I got the autism diagnosis first, and had found out other family members had ADHD, and I noticed that both of those conditions apply to me, so when I started seeing a psychiatrist, I asked her if I could be assessed for ADHD,” she told SBS News.

A woman wearing a pink blazer over a black shirt is standing in front of greenery.

Understanding her diagnosis has helped Erin create strategies to navigate life better. Source: SBS News / Cameron Carr

For Erin, the process of receiving both diagnoses involved separate and expensive evaluations, with some overlap but largely distinct assessments.

“The tests are pretty separate, and it’s expensive. It was somewhere about 12.5 per cent of my entire yearly salary,” she said.

Dr Tamara May, a clinical psychologist specialising in autism and ADHD, told SBS News — getting an autism or ADHD diagnosis in Australia is challenging — let alone receiving both.

“For ADHD, most people will see a psychiatrist who wants to access the most evidence-based treatment, which is stimulant medication, and that’s very restrictive. You have to go privately,” she said.

“To do an autism diagnosis, usually it’s going through a psychologist who has expertise in the developmental conditions and diagnosing autism, and that can also, if it’s done privately, can cost a lot, and for adults, it’s generally just done privately.”

May said it could be around $1,000 for a single appointment.

Conditions can come with a ‘significant amount of disability’

Nicole Rogerson, CEO of Autism Awareness Australia, a not-for-profit autism education and awareness organisation, said people need to be careful about what they’ve read on social media.

“A wider amount of people now self-identify as being on the autism spectrum and potentially having ADHD,” she told SBS News.

“Whilst we want to embrace that idea that neurodiversity has got a positive message behind it, it’s crucial to understand that these conditions are very serious, and for a decent proportion of the community, it will come with a significant amount of disability.”

Rogerson said the key is to ensure quality services are provided, whether it’s for people with only one or both conditions.

“What is really important is that we have good quality diagnostic services across the country and that people are getting quality assessments. It’s not merely ticking a box by seeing somebody you know online for telehealth,” she said.

“If somebody has a legitimate diagnosis of ADHD, their life may be vastly improved with the help of medication. So it’s important that we get the diagnosis right so we can get the right support for those people.”

What’s the government doing?

Earlier this year, the government launched its first national autism strategy with the aim to improve the lives of autistic people and dismantle harmful attitudes barring their participation in society.

The strategy, which will inform the federal government’s policy approach, will run until 2031 and aims to bring Australia in line with countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

Some states are also looking at making ADHD diagnosis cheaper and more accessible for people.

Since 2017, the Queensland government has allowed GPs to diagnose and prescribe ADHD medication to children.

Up to 1,000 GPs would first receive training before taking on the new responsibility, but the details of the training and the rollout are yet to be confirmed.

Dr Rebekah Hoffman, the NSW and ACT chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said the reform makes it easier for existing ADHD patients to access prescriptions, while reducing stigma around mental health.

“What it also means is hopefully there’s a reduced wait list for getting into paediatricians and psychiatrists if we’re able to go on and manage some of their complex but stable patients that don’t need to see them as regularly.”